Sorting head for cathode sleeves



1959 w. B. BELL 2,915,165

SORTING HEAD FOR CATHODE SLEEVES Filed Feb. 8, 1956 INVENTOR v z am/ATTORNE WILLIAM B; BELL United States Patent SORTING HEAD FOR CATHODESLEEVES William B. Bell, Emporium, Pa., assignor, by mesne assignments,to Sylvania Electric Products Inc., Wilmington, Del., a corporation ofDelaware Application February 8, 1956, Serial No. 564,190

1 Claim. (Cl. 198-33) The invention relates to means whereby articles ofsubstantially uniform cross sectional area except for an enlarged areaat a distance from the longitudinal center of gravity of the articlesare arranged or orientated so that as they leave said means, theenlarged areas are always closer to the trailing ends of the articlesthan to the leading ends, regardless of which end of the articles wasfed to the arranging means.

It is an object of the invention to provide a new and improved devicefor effecting the above result.

provide means for arranging cathode sleeves of rectangular crosssection, with beads on only the narrower faces of the parallelepipednear ends of the sleeves so that all of these beaded ends leave thearranging device last, regardless of which end of the sleeve waspresented first to the arranging device.

For a complete understanding of the invention, consideration should begiven to the appended description when read in conjunction with theaccompanying drawing in which: i

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the arranging device with a diagrammaticview of some cathode sleeves leaving the arranging device.

Fig. 2 is a top view of the arranging head of the device with a holddown plate partially cut away to expose otherwise hidden parts.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 44 of Fig. 3.

Figs. 5, 6, and 7 show three examples of articles which may be arrangedin the manner set forth by the device of the invention.

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view showing how a sleeve having a head at thetrailing end will act in the device, and

Figs. 9 and 10 are similar views except that the head is .at the leadingend.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail, at 10 there is shown avibratory bowl such as disclosed in the patent to Balsiger et al.2,609,914, the bowl having a spiral outwardly and upwardly inclinedrunway 12 along which elongated articles will travel upon propervibratory movements being imparted to the bowl. At the upper end of therunway, in accordance with the present invention, is an arranging block14 which functions to cause articles which have enlargements near oneend only to leave the runway with the enlarged ends trailing, regardlessof whether these enlargements were leading or trailing when they werepresented to the block.

The block comprises two cheeks 16 and 18 having flat "ice faces 20 incontact with each other and both mounted on a support plate 22 as byscrews 24 passing through holes in the plate 22 and block 18 andthreaded into block 16. The plate 22 is fastened to the upper end of thebowl at the runway exit by screws 26 or the like passing through holesin the plate and threaded into the flange portion of the bowl.

The blocks have a mouth in the form of registering recesses 28 withwalls 30 tapering upwardly and outwardly and merging into shelves 32 and33. The upper faces of the shelves form parts of a grooved trackway 34.The trackway 34 is a continuation of trackway 12. Partially bridging theupper gap of the recesses 28 is a pairof ledges 36, of the same size andshape, the upper surface of the ledges lying in the lower surface of thetrackway. The width of the trackways 12 and 34 is just a little morethan the overall Width, including the beads, of the cathode sleeves tobe orientated and the space between the ledges 36 is a little greaterthan the width of the sleeves but less than the overall widths thereof.Between the ledges 36 and the shelves 32 and 33, the space betweenopposing walls of the cheeks 16 and 18 is equal to that of the width ofthe runways, and the gaps between the shelves 32, 33 and the ledgeplates 36 are greater than any diameter of the sleeves. The distancesbetween the edges of the shelves 32 and 33 is a little less than thelength of a sleeve and the depth of the trackway 34 is a little morethan the vertical height of a sleeve lying in the trackway. The distancebetween the ends of the ledges 36 and the edge of shelf 33 is slightlyless than the distance from the bead to the least remote end of thesleeve.

Bridging the trackway directly over the ledges 36 is a hold down plate38 fastened to' the upper face of one of the cheeks, as 16, by suitablemeans such as a screw 40. The plate extends along the runway for adistance corre sponding to the length of the ledges 36 along the runwayand the spacing between the lower face of the plate and the upper facesof the ledge is just a little greater than the height of the sleeves asthey move along the runway.

The lower ends of the cheeks have two stepped mating semi-circularrecesses 42 in the larger diametered portion of which is frictionallyheld the end of a duct 44 leading to a suitable receptacle for stackingthe orientated sleeves. This receptacle may be a jar or slowly movabletray, as is well known in the art.

In operation, a collection of articles of the same size and shape butwith the enlargements facing in any which way is dumped into the bottomof the bowl. These articles may be bolts or headed screws, or finishingnails or any of the forms of cathode sleeves illustrated in Figures 5,6, and 7. Assuming that a number of cylindrical sleeves of the typeshown in Fig. 5 and which have circumferential beads 48 are dumped intothe bowl, the vibrations of the bowl will cause them to climb, in asingle file, up and along the inside wall of the bowl until they reachthe block 14. With cathode sleeves of the cylindrical type the servicesof the hold down plate 38 are unnecessary and the same, if desired, maybe displaced either by loosening the screws 40 and swinging the plateout of the way of the track or by complete removal thereof. If acylindrical cathode sleeve arrives at the block with the beadedperiphery trailing, the sleeve will ride in the track until the centerof gravity passes beyond the edge of shelf 32 and then the shelfoverhanging end of the sleeve will drop between the opposing faces ofthe ledges 36, into the mouth of the block, the beaded end passingthrough the widened gap between the ends of the ledges 36 and the edgeof shelf 32. When a cathode sleeve with beaded edge leading reaches theblock, the mass of the sleeve in back of the edge of shelf 32 willmaintain the sleeve horizontal until the bead rests on the upper facesof ledges 36. Continued vibration of the bowl will bring the sleeve tothe position shown in Fig. 9 where it is just ready to fall. When thetrailing end of the sleeve clears the edge of shelf 32, said end fallsbetween the opposing faces of ledge plates 36, as illustrated in Fig.10, and the beaded end of the sleeve will then pass down through the gapbetween the shelf '33 and the ends of ledge plates 36, Thus the cathodesleeves will drop down into the duct, all with the beaded endsuppermost.

Cathode sleeves and like articles which are rectangular in crosssection, as shown in Fig. 6 at 50 and provided with beads 52 on theminor diameter of the sleeves will be orientated in similar fashion.However, where articles are narrower in one cross sectional dimensionthan in another as shown at 54 in Fig. 7, and have the enlargements,such as 56, on the 'major diameter, there is an additional problembecause the articles may rotate about their longitudinal axis in thetrack and present the narrow dimension to the opposing plates 36,thereby slipping down into the mouth of the block irrespective of whichend of the article the enlargement may be on.

To prevent such rotation of the sleeves, there is provided the hold downplate 38. Throughout the motion of the sleeves 54 along the trackway 12there has been a tendency for them to lie with their broad faces on thattrackway. If due to the ziggling to which the sleeves are subjected byreason of vibratory movements of the bowl, the sleeves shouldinadvertently turn on their narrower faces, they may either roll off thetrackway or again right themselves. However, if such action should occurat the mouth of the block, due to the absence of beads on the ends ofthe minor diameter of the sleeve, the sleeves would slip into the mouthof the block regardless of whether the head 56 is at the leading ortrailing edge of the sleeve. It is to prevent this that the block 38 isprovided. The distance between the lower face of block 38 and the upperfaces of ledges 36 is just a little more than the narrow dimension orminor diameter of the sleeve. The width of the trackway 34 is just alittle more than the wide dimension or major diameter of the sleeve.Therefore, the sleeve cannot turn in the trackway once it has enteredbeneath the plate 38 and proper orientation of articles is assured.

It should be understood that a number of exchangeable blocks 14 areprovided, to accommodate articles of different diameters and lengths.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

In an orientating device, a block having a grooved trackway along itsupper face, the bottom of the groove, for a portion of its length,having a flat surface and apertured to provide a narrow slot with awider slot at each end of the narrow slot, a recess in the block belowthe apertured portion, means for conducting orientated articles awayfrom the recess, and a hold down plate having a fiat under surfaceparallel to the flat surface of the trackway, coextensive with thenarrow slot, and spaced vertically .thereabove a distance less than thewidth of the trackway.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,533,523 Thoma Apr. 14, 1925 2,658,428 Charles Feb. 7, 1928 2,609,914-Balsiger Sept. 9, 1952 2,752,028 Moskowitz June 26, 1956

